


Our Sunshine's Stories (- On Hiatus)

by LIPIL



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Adoption, Car Accidents, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Graphic Description of Corpses, Graphic Description of Injures, Hinata Shouyou Being an Idiot, Hinata Shouyou is Sunshine, Hinata Shouyou-centric, Hurt Hinata Shouyou, Hurt/Comfort, Kageyama's Potty Mouth, Karasuno Family, Minor Character Death, Multi, No Smut, Not Beta Read, One Shot Collection, Protective Karasuno Volleyball Club, that one's a given my dear readers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-27
Updated: 2020-06-15
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:14:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 17,862
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24404128
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LIPIL/pseuds/LIPIL
Summary: Our resident sunshine, Hinata Shoyo, has many stories that we don't see. So why not read them instead?----Requests: Closed (Requests are just barely being written right now, sorry,,)Last Updated: June 15, 2020Latest Chapter: Chapter 2-  Adopted by the Kageyamas(ON HIATUS UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE)
Relationships: Hinata Shouyou & Kageyama Family, Hinata Shouyou & Kageyama Tobio, Hinata Shouyou & Karasuno Volleyball Club
Comments: 44
Kudos: 79





	1. Introduction & Rules

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! This is probably an idea that I will soon regret due to:
> 
> 1\. My obvious lack of being a good writer (did that even make sense??)
> 
> 2\. My unfortunate lack of being motivated to write things
> 
> But you know what?! I'm going to (try to) push myself and write because I have lots of ideas, I actually enjoy writing when I'm in the right mindset. I'm going to try to persevere against my mental writing block!
> 
> Anyways, keep scrolling to keep reading the introduction and rules to this collection ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* \\(♡'v'♡)/

Hello <3

This is a one shot book centered around Hinata Shouyou. I am writing this to keep myself busy throughout the summer and also to make enhance my writing skills :D. I know that there are better ways to get better at writing, but I enjoy reading and sometimes writing fanfiction. I also love Haikyuu and would love to contribute to the fandom in a way that doesn't include drawing (because I've done too much of that). But there's kind of a catch (if you can call it that). If I don't complete and post a request within two months (I'm giving myself that long because I have problems with being motivated to do things :/), I will be deleting this fic. That being said, if I do manage to post within two months, I can't promise consistent updates. Like I have mentioned before, I have a large issue with staying motivated and being interested in ideas. It's unfortunate, but I do tend to lose interest in an activity fairly easily.

But you guys didn't come here to read about my problems! You came to read and I will do my best to provide! Before I let you all loose and start letting you request things, I need to lay down some rules.

RULES 

1) Please don't request smut. Most, if not all, of these characters are minors, as am I, and I would greatly appreciate it if I didn't get requests to write underage porn (while being underage too). Of course, I don't mind kissing and cuddles, but I am not comfortable writing anything more than just that. If you are looking for smut then this isn't the right one shot collection for you. I do wish you the best of luck in looking for the right one though!

2) Don't request rape, please. Even nonexplicit rape. I'd rather not write about it. If it is slightly mentioned as something that has happened in the past and it's something that the character has trauma and is h e a l i n g from, then that is acceptable, I guess. I am only willing to write the healing period, and even then, I'll most likely avoid requests that have something to do with rape.

3) Please. Read. Trigger. Warnings. They are important! I don't want you, the reader, to be triggered by a topic in this fic. I want you guys to stay as content and happy as you can when reading this fic. Even though you're only just reading this fic maybe once or twice or maybe more, I care about you and want you to be in good health. If you need to skip a chapter because it will trigger you, then, by all means, skip it. Stay happy, stay healthy, and take care of yourself <3.

4) If your request is based directly off of someone else's fanfiction, please tell me! I would like to give credit where credit is due, and if it's their idea that I will write that I am taking from someone else who was inspired by them, then I'd love to credit them. 

5) This is a Hinata centered one shot collection. I am willing to write about another character just as long as Hinata plays a large role in their chapter. Other than that, I will not take requests that don't have anything to do with him. I'm sorry, but this isn't the right one shot fic for that. Good luck with finding one though :D!!

(I did say that aus shouldn't be requested, but I am no longer making this a rule! Be free to ask for aus!)

If you request things about depression, self harm, abuse, suicide, and other sensitive topics, then I apologize in advance for not being able to write it accurately. I've never gone through those things myself, so as a result, I won't be able to truly describe the pain in my writing. That being said, I'd truly appreciate criticism if and when I write chapters about those topics. Thank you!

Also, criticism is greatly appreciated! Not just for heavy topics but for my writing in general. Wording, grammar, spelling, anything! Half of the reason that I'm writing these chapters is to enhance my writing skills anyways. I can never get better if nobody corrects me, am I right? Don't be shy about calling me out on an issue with my writing.

Alright, all that being said, request away my dear readers!


	2. Adopted by the Kageyamas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Request:
> 
> Oh, thanks for writing this! I'm sure your writing skills are just fine and you're not giving yourself enough credit. If you'd like to, I had this little idea floating around in my head where the Kageyama's adopt Hinata. You don't have to go completely angsty if you don't want to and you don't have to change canon much. It's basically just the two of them yelling and messing with each other as brothers do and the team just kinda staring at them when they greet the same black haired woman as mom when she watches one of their games. If that's too au, I'm sorry for typing out so much explaining it. Have a good summer!
> 
> -FlowersandSunandBeesOhMy
> 
> Adopted Hinata coming right up!
> 
> TW
> 
> \- Graphic descriptions of injuries
> 
> \- Suicidal Thoughts
> 
> \- Self Harm

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> God, I am so late??? 
> 
> I legit told the person who requested this that it would come out on June 5th, but look at the date now lmao. It's been t w o w e e k s since I said that. The embarrassment I feel is at an astronomical level rn. Yeesh, I'm really sorry for lying like that. Next time I write a request I should just not predict when it'll be done because it's clear how wrong I was the first time. We don't need a repeat of that. Sorry again, but also thank you, dear requester, for your reassurance! It helped me feel a little better!
> 
> I notice that the characters are ooc and I'm sorry for that. It's my first time writing with these characters seriously, so I'm not sure how to really write it out (if you know what I mean). Also, this is written pretty bad. There's lots of emotions in one scene, to much crying in multiple, bad writing towards the end (and throughout the chapter tbh), poorly written fluff, weirdly written angst; all in all, it's all just poorly written and just seems rushed. It sucks that it seems rushed too because I didn't intend to make it look like that but I'm still working on polishing my writing skills so it's to be expected ig. Still, it really sucks to see that :(
> 
> But I know that I can get better if I just practice being more realistic, so I have hope that my writing will get better!
> 
> I also don't really know much about adoption at all and you can tell (or in my eyes you can). I barely scratched the surface with my research on adoption and ran with what little info I had. I also know that the adoption process in Japan is different from my country's process, so it's most likely not accurate. I'm just not sure how to access info about the adoption process in Japan, so if anyone knows how to, I'd love it if you could tell me.
> 
> But you want to know the reaaaallly unfortunate part of this chapter is? I didn't really focus on what the requester wanted, which was the relationship between Tobio and Shoyo and that's probably the worst thing I could've ever done. Not to be that one person who just makes excuse after excuse, but I just couldn't find a way to incorporate their relationship change. I couldn't find the right way to write it in, if that makes sense. Like, do I write it in time skips? How would I do that? Should I add extra moments that shows them turning more into brothers? How would I do that too? I will research this for the future, but I would also appreciate it if someone could give me some tips too. Doesn't matter how small or big. Anything can help. Again, I'm so sorry to whoever requested this, and I hope the rest of this is fine for you. If you need or want me to change anything, I will be happy to do so. 
> 
> Thank you so much for requesting <3
> 
> Alright, enjoy!

It was an amazing day, Shoyo had concluded.

There was a beautiful sunset as day morphed into night, traffic wasn’t too bad on the highways, and the radio stations were playing his favorite songs. All these added up brought a smile on his face, his sour mood from being rudely woken up so early by Natsu this morning poofed away. 

He was so glad everything was going his way today. 

There was nothing that could ruin today.

Or was there...

**...**

The three Hinatas were making their way down the highway, all singing along to a catchy song on the radio. They were all having as much fun as they could in a minivan, driving back to Miyagi after coming back from running errands in Tokyo. Mama Hinata flipped on her turn signal and let out a chuckle when her son cheerfully mentioned how it was funny that the ticking of the signal matched the beat of the song. 

Mama Hinata looked around her to see if any cars were too close for her to change lanes and didn’t see any, so she decided to just go for it. She sighed to mask her laugh when Natsu leaned forward to pull on a lock of Shoyo’s hair, causing the boy to screech and flail around. Both of them started to bicker after that, making her sigh harder, not quite laughing this time. She started to scold them and move into the next lane until all of a sudden, she heard a loud honking of a horn behind her. Her head snapped up to look into the rearview mirror and she let out a loud gasp, cutting herself off. She could see from the corner of her eye that Shoyo had looked up into the mirror as well, trying to see what was wrong. She could hear him gasp as his eyes widened in horror, mirroring the look on her face. She could hear her baby girl in the back seat frantically asking what was wrong. 

A large truck was flying down the highway behind them at _such_ a high speed.

Mama Hinata snapped out of her horrified trance and started screaming, grabbing the steering wheel and trying to swerve out of the way. Her screaming made Shoyo start screaming which then made Natsu start screaming. This would’ve been comical in any other context, but right now, it was chilling. Hearing her babies screaming broke her heart.

Unfortunately, she tried swerving out of the way too late by just a second, causing both cars to collide, sending them both flying.

The screams and cries of Mama Hinata and Shoyo filled the car, both absolutely terrified and in pain due to the force of the impact. The ginger’s head banged against the window, to which he let out a screech of pain at. 

Their vehicle’s right side hit the highway barricade with so much force that it forced the barricade to split open, sending it tumbling down the hill the highway was built on. 

Shoyo’s ear splitting scream filled the car, his voice cracking in fear as loud crunches and bangs attacked his sensitive ears. He could barely even register the ache in his neck and head and the stinging all over his body as he shrieked and cried, not even realizing that he was the only one crying out anymore.

The tumbling came to an abrupt end as the car got stuck in between two trees. Despite this, Shoyo kept crying and shouting, completely petrified. He cried out for his mother and sister, his eyes clenched shut from when he was bracing for impact. He let out a pitiful whimper when he didn’t hear them respond. He assumed the worst and opened his eyes, starting to look around to see the condition his mother and sister were in, ignoring the shot of pain in his neck and spinning of his head roughly turned around.

The scenes before him left him absolutely broken. 

He gagged as he took in the sight of the unnatural angle his sister’s neck was bent at, along with the bone sticking out of it, blood flowing out of the wound. Her spine was so incredibly arched forward, that it was no secret it was broken. Her legs were crushed as she had lurched forward and hit the seats with such great force when the other car had collided with them. Glass shards were stuck in her skin, littering her body with cuts. The worst part of it all though, were her _eyes_. The eyes that were usually so warm and full of life were lifeless, so cold and dead. 

_The feeling of vomit in his throat had never burned so bad._

He carelessly whipped his head towards his mother hoping to find her in better condition. Sadly, as he assessed the injuries on her too, she didn’t look any better either. The right side of her head was caved in, bleeding profusely as blood spewed from a gaping wound on the same area. A small chunk of her brain hung out of her skull. Her arm was _mangled_ by shards of glass from the window and windshield. There was a rib sticking out of her skin on the side of her chest. Her mouth hung open and her eyes were closed as she leaned against the wrecked door.

The redheaded boy’s gags turned into heaves as he threw up all over the damaged dashboard. He heaved until there was nothing left to throw up and even then, he kept going. Eventually, his heaves turned into loud, broken sobs of anguish and heartbreak. 

He started to pray, pray, and pray that everything was just a nightmare. Normally Shoyo wasn’t very religious, but this was one of those times where he truly prayed to the gods. He didn’t want it to be true.

But this was his reality.

And then all at once, everything hit him. The ginger’s tense frame sagged as the pain, the loss of adrenaline, and the utter _exhaustion_ washed over his body. He groaned in pain and collapsed against his seat, tears still leaking out of his eyes. He could feel the stinging pain of the cuts that littered his body, he could feel the blood leaking from him; from head to toe, he could feel the pulsing pain in his neck and head, he could feel the rawness of his throat, he could feel _all of it_. 

He just wanted to sleep off this nightmare and wake up in the morning and revel in the safeness and tranquility of the morning …

... And sleep, he did.

**…**

When Shoyo woke up, it wasn’t to the peace of the tranquil morning with him laying in his bed, but instead to bright white lights, a beeping heart monitor, needles in his skin, gauze wrapped around his head and body, a neck brace, (temporary) memory loss, and his body on a rock hard hospital bed.

As the ginger woke up, he sluggishly blinked up at the cieling, still tired and loopy. The boy squinted his eyes as they burned just looking at the bright lights above. He groaned as his eyes teared up from the slight burn. His face then scrunched up in confusion, eyes still closed.

**_...Where the heck am I?_ **

A small, almost tearful sounding whisper of his first name had him snapping his eyes back open. He could see a familiar face staring back at him, chocolatey brown opened eyes wide in surprise with tears obviously collecting above his bottom lid, standing at the door. The gelled up hair with a bleached streak, chocolate eyes, raspy voice... 

It was Yuu.

“Sh...Shoyo…” Yuu whispered once again, a bit louder. He was so surprised, that he dropped the juice and apple slices in his hands. The upperclassman covered his mouth with both hands in disbelief. But his expression changed from disbelief to one akin to relief. Akin, because it was just slightly tainted with sorrow. The noirette slid down to his knees on the polished tiled floor of the hospital and wept. His muffled cries echoed throughout the near silent room.

“Ni...shi...noya-senpai?” Shoyo croaked, each syllable slightly slurred, “Why...Why are you crying? Wh..Where am I? Wh...where’s my m...mom and N-Natsu..?” he asked, suddenly really wanting his family near him.

It was almost as if Yuu started crying harder after having been asked that question. A nearly incoherent cry of, “ _Oh my god, he doesn’t remember!_ ” clawed its way out of the libero’s throat.

**_Don’t remember what? Please just answer my questions without any of this cryptic stuff._ **

Shoyo’s brows furrowed in frustration at his (seemingly) lack of knowledge of the situation at hand. He clenched his teeth, patience wearing thin as each second ticked by.

Where was his family? Where the heck was he? What doesn’t he remember? So many questions to be answered, yet none were because Yuu was crying. And for what?

He kept repeating his questions, but after each one, the ginger could hear his upperclassman’s cries get more distressed. He heard shouts of concern coming from the hallway. He recognized them as his teammates’ voices. Maybe they’d give him answers.

The redhead could see Ryuu and Asahi rush over to where Yuu was. They started frantically asking him questions, stupidly not even bothering to look at Shoyo. The redhead heard at least five pairs of footsteps running towards his door, some asking the noirette questions while others demanded to know what was wrong. At least three pairs stopped at the door while the other two lagged behind.

All it took was a shaky hand pointing at his direction and all eyes were on him, their owner’s mouths gaping.

Those who had made it to the door late were nearly screeching out questions at this point, voices filled with worry as everyone who stood at the doorway was frozen in what they could assume was fear or shock.

Koshi was the next person who spoke up.

“...Hinata...” the silver haired teen softly called out, eyes as wide as saucers.

Why are they all so shocked? Oh my _god_ , is this a fever dream? Did I get abducted by aliens who look like my teammates who’re trying to perform a scene from some sort of tv show with me? Is it “ _Take Shoyo to a Random Location, Hook Him up to Machines, Wrap His Body and Head in Bandages, Put Him in a Neck Brace, and Then Proceed to Mess With His Mind_ ” day? Seriously, what’s happening?

“What?...Wha-” The poor ginger was cut off by a nearly bone crushing hug, leaving him nearly breathless.

Koshi and Tadashi, who stood behind him rushed into the room, had wrapped him in the tightest hug they could without hurting him. Shoyo could feel their bodies shaking with tremors around him. He assumed that they were crying. As for the reason why they were crying, he didn’t really know.

The redhead decided against asking anymore questions at the moment, allowing them to hug him, but still peeved and confused with what was happening. He didn’t even need a hug. He wasn’t even sad, just kinda, sorta- okay, really mad that no one would tell him what was happening.

Shoyo could hear footsteps around his room. He guessed everyone must’ve walked inside at this point. The fact that he could hear Yuu’s sniffles closer now was just evidence proving his theory. 

The ginger felt a bit more weight being added to the tight embrace he was in and heard more sniffles. Some of, or maybe all of, the others must’ve joined in the trio’s hug after their shock had subsided.

“Welcome back Hinata…” Tadashi breathed out, his voice thick with emotion.

**_What???_ **

Shoyo opened his mouth to ask what that meant but a sharp spike of pain that had erupted on the left side of his head forced his mouth shut as he clenched his teeth. A second later, the pain went away so he was just about to speak again, but then _another_ spike of pain cut him off.

And another.

And another.

And another.

And so on.

The boy cried out in pain as his brain seemed to be trying to squash its left side. It hurt so, so _bad_ . He started scratching at the bodies around him to get them to _move away goddamnit_ . His half of friends started screaming and shouting to get the nurse while the other half shouted questions at him, demanding to know what was wrong. He heard a familiar voice- Tobio, his mind supplied, shouting his name in concern. The shouting obviously didn’t help and only made the pain worse, making him cry harder, which also didn’t help since it _also_ made the pain worse. Shoyo tried to tell them to shut up but trying to speak didn’t work since it only came out as a loud wail. He tried to open his eyes but he immediately clamped them shut as the light was just _too_ bright. Bile arose in his throat and trailed down his chin, seeping through the blankets and his hospital gown. The pain increased as the shouting crescendoed, escalating from forte to fortississimo. Eventually his body couldn’t take the physical stress and he passed out, the depths of unconsciousness swallowing him whole.

But the period of unconsciousness was not just a world of black. It was flashbacks of traumatic, previously forgotten memories. Memories of their car being flung across the highway, taking a plummet off the side of the hill it was built upon, crunching with each tumble. The sight of his mother and sister’s destroyed bodies. The broken glass, the interior of the car caved in in some areas, metallic debris scattered in various places of the car, their shopping bags from the errands they ran in Tokyo strewn across the back seats with their contents spilling out of the plastic, the smell of the sticky blood splattered all over the place, the praying, the wish that all of it was nothing but a terrible nightmare, _everything_.

Shoyo realized where he was.

He knew why Yuu cried harder when he asked those questions. He knew why his family wasn’t there.

They were dead. Never coming back. And now, he was completely alone.

This wasn't a nightmare. This was the cruel reality that he lived.

It finally seemed as if someone from above took pity on him as everything truly faded to black, and his thoughts had faded away. Only for a little while, of course.

_..._

When Shoyo came to, it was the next day, or night if you wanted to be technical.

Staring up at the bright white lights, his inner thoughts drowning out the continuous beeping from the machines he was hooked on, he started to wish. The grieving redhead wished to fall back asleep and stay like that forever. An empty pit in his mind formed at the reminder that he was forever alone, that there no one there left for him. He also felt physically numb and sluggish, but ignored it.

He laid there, staring up at the ceiling for what seemed like an eternity, but was actually around ten minutes. As the boy stared up at the ceiling while unconsciously picking at his bandages, his breath started to get heavier and heavier as his eyes got wetter and wetter. Tears spilled from their ducts and didn’t stop falling, not that Shoyo made an effort to stop them. He sobbed and sobbed as he _truly_ realized he was alone, the previous emptiness in his head filling sorrow. Then suddenly, anger. Red hot, _searing_ anger clouded his mind and flooded his veins.

Anger at the imbecile who killed some of the people closest to him. Who caused _him_ , a _teenager_ , someone who should never go through something like this, so much pain, not just physically but mentally. He can feel himself falling apart bit by bit as his reality truly sets in. His loved ones are gone and it’s all because of some idiot who couldn’t go the regular speed limit.

Shoyo started to beat on his legs in anger, completely disregarding the pain that came with doing so. It was foolish, he knew that deep down inside, because he could reopen his wounds, but he couldn’t seem to care. Tears of rage streamed down his face and onto the scratchy hospital blankets while he was just hammering away at his legs, tearfully grunting every time his fists connected to his injured legs.

All of the sudden, the door slammed open and someone ran into the room, saying something to Shoyo, but he couldn’t hear it over the blood rushing in his ears. The person’s hands grabbed at his wrists in an attempt to stop the assault on his legs, but the angry boy just thrashed around, tears flying around, crying out in anger. The person must’ve realized that Shoyo wasn’t listening to them because they stopped talking. In a desperate attempt to calm the boy down, the person hugged him to their chest, albeit a bit awkwardly. 

The ginger tried to break free by wiggling his way out of the hug, but ultimately gave up and just let it be, the awkward hug being a source of comfort to him at the moment. He cried and cried against the broad chest and clenched their cotton shirt in his fists, burrowing his face further into their chest. Frustrated and downright miserable sobs racked the poor ginger’s small frame as the person just held on tighter, their hug becoming less awkward and increasingly more comforting. Their hands ran through his knotted hair which calmed the crying boy down significantly. His sobs quieted down to tiny whimpers as his emotions mellowed down. 

Shoyo pulled back from the tight embrace and laid back down in his uncomfortable bed. His glazed over amber eyes tiredly met damp cornflower ones when he looked up to see the identity of the mystery person, and he immediately knew who it was. The strands of black hair that covered a small bit of their eyes as they tilted their head down to look at Shoyo was also a dead giveaway as to who it was.

_Tobio._

“...Kags…” Shoyo sniffled, throat hoarse from the rough sobs.

“Hi.” The taller boy said stiffly, trying to wipe his wet eyes inconspicuously, but it was totally obvious he was wiping them.

The ginger huffed a tiny, tear filled laugh at his awkward response, but he felt anger and grief creeping up in his heart again. His eyes slightly welled up again with tears again and he loosely grasped at the bed sheets.

“Uh…” Tobio oh-so-eloquently started,”I’m glad you’re okay...the crash looked pretty terrible on the news. It’s a, uhh, miracle that you made it out as un-uninjured..? Yeah, um, uninjured as you did…” the poor boy tried to express his relief of the ginger’s survival as a way to cheer him up, but it came out a bit jumbled in his haste to get them out. It also didn’t seem to work as the emotional ginger seemed to get more worked up at the mention of the crash. 

“Kagey’ma,” Shoyo grunted out, voice full of mixed emotions,” Did they...Did they tell you..? Tell you they’re d-dead?”

“Dead?” The noirette echoed. “I- Uh,” he sighed before continuing, his mood going even more solemn,” Yeah. Yeah, they did. I’m so sorry Hi-”

“They’re dead!” the redhead held his head in his hands, fresh tears smearing, emotions spiking violently. “Dead! My _family_ is all g-g-gone and it’s because some _idi-idiot_ \- frea..king _imbecile_ , couldn’t-t drive like a normal person! Imagine h-having only two people left in your fa-fa-family, two people y-y-you loved you so much, who you loved so- so much, and they- they…” he trailed off, weeping and shaking uncontrollably. 

Tobio placed a warm hand on his friend’s back, trying to be a source of comfort for him again. “If it, um, makes you feel better, the guy ended up surviving and he’s being punished...I forgot what they were charging him with. Man...Manslaughter? I don’t really remember, but he’s getting in trouble for it. Also, he, uh, can’t walk anymore, if that somehow makes you feel better.” he winced adding that last bit. Yeah, it’d be morbid if the usually happy ginger got a bit happy at that, but Tobio would understand if he did. 

“ _I hope he d-dies and r-rots i-i-in prison_.” Shoyo grit out, moving his hands from his face to his bangs, tugging and pulling in anger.

Tobio stiffened at that, but ultimately didn’t say anything. His friend had a right to be angry, that bastard literally killed his only family. The poor _kid_ , literal _kid_ , had no one to call a mother or sister anymore.

_Unless... No, no. Maybe not. Or…? Oh shoot, wait-_

“Hey, stop that.” Tobio said, a little frazzled by his actions. He pried at the hands as they tugged and tugged, movements growing more frantic as they held on tighter. “Hinata, stop. You’re hurting yourself.”

He only got a grumble in response. Not good.

“No, seriously, stop! This isn’t oka-”

“D-Don’t care damnit!”

“We just got you back, don’t hurt yourself even further! You barely made it out alive, don’t make yourself get wors-”

“ _I. D-Don’t. Care_! Let me get worse! L-let me get w-w-worse! They didn’t deserve to d-die! It should’ve been m-me-” He thrashed around, still tugging madly at his ginger locks. Luckily, his neck was held in place because of the thick brace, but that didn’t halt the pain from the slight movement.

This struck a nerve in Tobio. He grabbed Shoyo’s hands and yanked them off of his hair, and immediately started reprimading him, “What are you saying you literal fucking dumbass?! Are you saying you should’ve died instead of them? You don’t deserve to die either! Do you know how lucky you are to have lived? And yeah, of course they didn’t deserve to die…” he softened his tone,” but that doesn’t mean you do. Do you think that they’d want you to take their place? They’re probably watching you from wherever they are and just hope the best for you. I- We…” he inhaled shakily, freeing one of his hands and running it through his hair. 

He continued, “We were all so, _so_ scared when we saw the news, even Stingyshima. All they said was that there was a collision and when they showed the crash site, it looked so _scary_ . Then when they mentioned you, your mom, and Natsu, we all hauled ass to the hospital. Do you remember the last time you woke up? At around that time, you had been out for _three days_. It was so terrifying to see you pass out the way you did. And when Nishinoya-senpai told us about how you didn’t remember what happened, we thought the worst…” his voice cracked as a lump formed in his throat. 

Shoyo grunted, looking down at his blanketed lap, which was quickly dampening with tears.

Tobio wrapped him in a tight but gentle embrace for the second time that day. He wrenched his eyes shut in an attempt to not cry, but his efforts were in vain as some leaked out anyways. He spoke again, but softer this time,” I don’t care if I’ll have to repeat it over and over and _over_ again, you did not, do not, and _will_ not deserve to die. We are so happy you survived this. I guarantee you that wherever your mother and sister are, they are probably so happy for you.”

The ginger held onto his friend’s shirt, and cried. He cried and cried and wouldn’t stop crying. Eventually, he spoke again, though it was muffled due to the fact that his face was buried in Tobio’s shoulder. “I-It’s not f-fair that th-they’ve be-been taken away from m-m-me. I ca-can’t g-get the- the im-image of their b-bodies-,” a particularly rough sob cut forced him into a coughing fit, which made him stop for a bit. He could feel the noirette about to pull away, probably to see if he was okay, but the ginger just held on tighter. There was a small gap before he started talking again, but he did nevertheless. “I-I can’t g-get th-their bodies out of m-my head. I-It’s stuck in th-there Kag’yama. I d-don’t want t-to li-live with th-that for th-the rest of m-my life.” 

Tobio was pretty sure his heart cracked in a million pieces hearing that. He just thought that the boy had passed out on impact. His lips quivered as he spoke, ”Please, just, stay _try._ Try to hang in there. For us. For _them_.”

“That- That’s easier said than do-”

“I know. I- I know, but...please…” his was bordering on desperate at this point.

Shoyo’s eyes widened slightly in shock. He’s never heard his friend sound so emotional before. He was usually either emotionally constipated, angry or just a little shit (or a big shit, whatever floats your boat). It warmed his heart that Tobio cared so deeply for him, just as he did. He could almost smile at it all, but couldn’t. Everything was too much right now, it was too hard to smile.

A beat of silence, multiple beeps of the heart monitor, and a couple sniffled passed until-

“I have nowhere to go now though.” -broke the silence. Shoyo felt Tobio tense at this, and assumed it was because of confusion. He tried explaining further, but the other boy literally _ripped_ himself from Shoyo’s clutches at the speed of sound before he could say anything.

Clamping his hands onto the redhead’s shoulders, the previously crying ink-haired boy, with zero hesitation, spoke, ”Stay with me.” He said this so suddenly and with such seriousness in his voice and wet eyes, that Shoyo was dumbstruck. He managed to force out a meek squeak in response to his proclamation before the other piped up again.

“You-you can stay. With me. You could- My mom could- uh, just, uh, take care of you. We could take you in! Miwa basically think of you like- like a little brother, like me! Yeah, like me! And my mom! S-she literally treats you like one of her own childs- children! Children- yeah.” he stumbled over his words in his haste to get them out, flushing red in embarrassment at his little mess up towards the end.

“I…what..?”

“Look, I- urgh, I know this is sudden, like, really sudden. On the spot sudden, but, uh, I just…” his voice got quieter and his sentence went on.

“H-huh?” Shoyo strained his ears to listen to the last bit, but his efforts to listen went to waste, hearing nothing but little mumbles. “...C-could you repeat t-that last bit?” He sniffed.

“Ugh! I just,” Tobio retracted his hands from his friend’s shoulders and covered his face. He then let out an ungodly closed mouth screech, plopping down in the chair next to Shoyo’s bed. This kind of unsettled the ginger middleblocker, who wasn’t very used to seeing him like this. Sure, he’s seen him have meltdowns on the court before, but nothing like this. 

Tobio soon got a hold of himself and started talking again, having found the words he wanted to say, “Ever since the accident, my mom, the team, and I have been worrying about where you’d go, for, uhm, obvious reasons,” he cringed at his choice of words, but continued nonetheless, “ and I’ve been talking with my mom about it. Like, a lot. And, look, you’re special to me. You’ve grown to be my closest friend that I’ve ever had. Like, _ever_ . I’ve heard horrible things about the system, like, really bad things Hinata. I’m talking, the most _vile_ shit ever. Thinking about those things happening to you keeps me up at night. And it did. This morning before I came here, my mom, Miwa and I _really_ talked. It was probably the most serious conversation we’ve had ever since I was seven- sorry, that’s irrelevant. Uh, anyways, she told me if we ever did take you in, it’d only be because _you_ want to. It’ll all be your decision, no one else’s. And if you don’t want to, then, uhhh, I guess foster care then.” By the end of his mini speech, Tobio was leaning back in his very uncomfortable seat, head tilted as he looked up at the ceiling.

“...I d-don’t…know wh-what to s-say…” and of course Shoyo didn’t. Everything happened literally four days ago. The poor boy still needed time to grieve for his family. He also needed to stay in the hospital to get better, and would most definitely have to enroll in therapy of some sort in the duration of his stay, afterwards too. Then he’d have to think about where he’d live, which foster care seems like the biggest option, but now there’s this one. But should he? He doesn’t want to be a bother. Doesn’t want to impose. There was so much to think about in such a short amount of time, it hurt his injured head.

“You don’t have to give me- us an answer now. We’ll let you have time to think about it.” Tobio shot his friend a small, but genuine teary smile.

A couple beeps of the heart monitor passed until the ginger muttered a small, “ _S-Sure._ ” in response, smiling back at the other boy as best as he could even in his poor emotional state. It looked more like a tired grimace, but who was Tobio to tell him that right now?

They fell into a comfortable silence, or what could’ve been silence had it not been for noisy monitors and their tearful sniffles. After a little while, Shoyo’s eyelids started to droop as his body went limp against the bed. He was about to sleep until he saw movement from the corner of his eye. Thinking his friend was about to leave, the ginger childishly whined and stuck an arm out in his direction.

Getting the message, Tobio snickered fondly, “I’m not leaving you, I’m just going to get a nurse. Last time, we got in trouble for bombarding you in a hug instead of calling a nurse first. Let’s hope I won’t get in too much trouble.” The middle blocker almost chuckled at the setter’s dilemma, but was much too tired and downcast to muster one.

The little crow ended up falling into a fitful sleep before the nurse got there, not that they minded. He needed the rest anyways, even if it wasn’t very peaceful. 

Poor baby crow…

**_…_ **

In the duration of his hospital stay, Shoyo learned multiple things. Because of his head injury, he gained a stutter. He can work on his stutter with a speech coach, but ultimately, it will be there for the rest of his life. He is also susceptible to seizures and migraines, so he has to be careful around potential triggers that used to not be a problem for him. Besides all of those inconveniences, he’d be okay playing volleyball, which he started caring about again after around two weeks. His love for volleyball was still strong, but he had to shove it all to the side during this time, as it isn’t relevant in the current circumstances.

On week three, his neck brace was removed as his neck injury had healed enough. Yay!

He also had to go to the hospital psychologist for therapy to talk about his trauma and nightmares. She was a nice, plain looking lady in her mid-forties with two kids. He called her Dr. Suzuki.

It wasn’t easy at first, talking about it and recalling everything so vividly for yet another time, but it slowly but surely helped. Instead of being constantly miserable, parts of the happy-go-lucky Shoyo shined through, though sparsely and more mellowed out. He isn’t sure if he’ll ever be like his old self again, no one is, but no one really expects him to, which he is grateful for. Everyone was surprised at how well he was recovering mentally, but he took Tobio’s words to heart from that one conversation they had a month ago. His family, wherever they are, are probably happy for him. He wants to do the best for them, he wants to get better for them, both physically and mentally. Of course, it wasn’t easy. But he was always one to take on a challenge head on.

The bastard’s family ended up paying for funeral costs and apologized on his behalf, which was very kind of them, but not necessary. He didn’t blame them for what happened, just him and _only_ him, but it’s not like he’d forgive the bastard if suddenly he came into his hospital room and started spewing apologies. Oh heck no. He’d do him a lot worse than that man did to his family, that’s for sure. He was still so furious and sad about everything that happened, but grieving was made easier with everyone around him being so supportive, which he was also very grateful for. 

Shoyo was glad to have such good friends _(and possibly family)_.

His teammates, friends, and some teachers visited him as weeks stretched into a month. Some came with gifts and cards, others with kind words, most with intent to hug the sadness out of him (which always helped a bit), and all with a heavy heart for him. 

Almost all of his teammates would inform him of what he missed out on, like practice matches and just practice in general. They hadn’t gone to any training camps as none had been scheduled, but they promised that if any came up, they’d be sure to take lots of pictures and show him afterwards. _Almost_ all of his teammates agreed to this, because Kei didn’t really do much with Shoyo aside from bringing him a little card each week and visit with either Tadashi, or during team visits. The short middle blocker came to learn that it was his own way of showing he cared though, so he didn’t mind. 

His friends from other teams, like Kenma, Tetsuro, Lev, Takanobu, even Kotaro and Keiji (to his surprise, but he guessed the owlish boy just dragged him along each time) visited him at least once a week or once every other week. Each would either talk to drag his mind from the poor state it’s in on a bad day or would just be a comforting presence. Either way, he enjoyed their visits.

Social workers visited him often as well, but Shoyo tuned out what they had to say at least sixty percent of the time. Yeah, it was important to listen to what they say as it’ll be information that he’d most likely need to know later, but he was too busy thinking about something else.

That something else being the conversation he and Tobio had about a month ago. It was stuck in his head, word for word. Thoughts centering around that particular conversation swarmed his head twenty-four seven. They would only ever calm down if someone would visit him and even then, they still buzzed in the back of his head, like manic whispers in the dark.

**_‘Should I accept the offer?’_ **

**_‘I don’t want to be a bother.’_ **

_‘But then they wouldn’t have offered.’_

**_‘What if they’re lying? What if they just feel bad for you, so they want to ‘help you’?_ **

_‘No, no. They wouldn’t do that. Kageyama’s a jackass, yeah, but he’s not evil. And his mom is a sweethea-_

**_‘They’d get sick of you quickly anyways…’_ **

_‘Cram it.’_

**_‘You know I’m right.’_ **

_‘Whatever.’_

**_‘You say whatever because you know you believe it.’_ **

_‘...’_

**_‘No words, huh?’_ **

_‘...Please just go away…’_

They hadn’t talked about it again since then, Tobio keeping his word about giving him time, which meant alot to Shoyo. That meant he must’ve literally been dead serious about this-

‘ _Well, it is adoption. That’s not to be taken lightly._

**_But still, when people are pushed too far, they resort to doing asshole-y things. Maybe I had pushed Tobio too far one day and this is his reveng_ ** _-_

_‘No! At heart, Kags is good person. And his mom would never let him do that, she’s too nice. What the heck type of thoughts are these, gosh._ ’

**_…_ **

It was during a visit from his team that Shoyo finally came up with an answer. After a whole month of thinking it over, he’s come up with a solid decision. Now he just has to figure out a time to tell him, or more specifically, his mother. He’d rather tell her herself rather than have her son relay his answer to her, and then have him relay what she has to say to Shoyo, because it’d just become one huge mess… And also because Dr. Suzuki told him it would be a smarter idea to do that too.

_‘-kay, so do I just, like, go “Hey bro, dude, I got an answer for that one thing we talked about a month ago, because, ha ha, my family di-_

_Ouch. No. I don’t want to do that. Oh shoot, is someone talking to me-’_

“-nata? Hinata? Are you okay?” Koshi waved a hand in front of his face, brows furrowed in concern. In fact, everyone in the room looked concerned. Chikara literally had one foot out the door, presumably to get a nurse if he didn’t respond within the next two seconds. He must’ve spaced out for a while then, huh?

“Y-yeah, I-I’m fine. I just sp-spa-spaced out-t fo-for a bit. Sor-r-ry about th-that.” The ginger sent him and everyone else a small, but reassuring smile. It didn’t quite reach his eyes, but nobody really paid any heed to that. None of his smiles really reached his eyes anymore. It hurt everyone around him deep in their souls to see his usual sunny smiles so empty, but it only made sense, so they all kind of got over it (but it still hurt to see).

“Are you sure? You’ve been doing that a lot lately. Have you not been feeling well lately? If you’re not then you told the hospital, right? Right?” Koshi started to fret over him, maternal instincts kicking in. He started putting his hand on the ginger’s head and cheeks, checking for a fever. He stopped when Dachi cupped the back of his neck firmly and gave him a look to say “ _calm down_ ”. He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly and leaned back into his chair. Shoyo shot him another smile, one of gratitude but with a smidge of amusement.

“Y-yeah. I’m s-sure. I’m j-j-j-just think-thinking.” 

“Alright.” The mama crow sighed in slight relief. “About what?”

“S-Stuff.”

Ryuu took this as his moment to bud into the conversation, “What type of stuff?” He wiggled his eyebrows.

“S-S-Stuff.”

Kei raised a brow as he removed his headphones from his ears, “Yeah, we know. But what kind of stuff? Are you too chicken to tell us?” At his last comment, Koshi, Daichi, Tobio, Yuu, and Ryuu snapped their heads in his direction and scowled. The blonde made a point of looking directly at Shoyo, deliberately ignoring the five boys out of slight fear (not that he’d admit it if asked).

“N-No! I w-w-was j-just th-thinking about li-li-life in ge-general... Also v-volleyball. I m-miss it.” The tiny middle blocker waved his hands around in denial. See, he wasn’t really lying about the first statement. Thinking about getting adopted by your friend’s mom is kind of thinking about life. The same thing couldn’t be said for the second statement. He just said that out of the blue to make it seem more realistic (not that he couldn’t think about life- _oh_ , you get it).

Looking back at Shoyo, Tobio deadpanned, “Of course, volleyball. Your true love.”

“Y-You kn-know it!” 

Chuckles broke out in the tiny room.

The rest of the visit went without incident. Everyone fell back into their conversations and just hung out. Some people, namely Yuu, Tobio, Koshi, and Dachi talked about how practice and school was going. Others like Chikara, Kei, and Asashi went out to get some drinks for everyone there. Kazuhito and Hisashi (those two were here too, could you believe it?) left early at around 17:00. Shoyo would either resign himself to just listening to everyone at certain moments or tell them stuff his doctors or psychologist said to him. They would listen and even give their own two cents. All in all, it was just a nice, calm hang out/visit.

At around 18:30, everyone else started leaving. As everyone started packing up, Shoyo met Tobio’s eye and gave him a look, crossing his fingers under the covers, hoping he’d get the message. Thankfully, Tobio wasn’t _completely_ stupid and understood.

“Hey, I’m actually gonna stay a little longer.” The setter set his bag back down and slowly sat back down into his seat.

Looking at the clock and back at the first year, Daichi threw him a funny look, “Are you sure? It’s thirty minutes until visiting hours end. I don’t want you to get in trouble.”

“Yeah. I’ll leave when they tell me to. Don’t worry about it.”

“Okay. Goodbye Hinata, see you soon. See you tomorrow Kageyama.”

Both of them waved and said goodbye.

And with that, everyone but Tobio walked out of the room. No one spoke until they heard the banter from the group completely fade away into silence, and even then, it was just silent (except for the sound of the machines, of course, we’ve been over this). They just sat there, the silence slowly getting more and more awkward. 

Before it could get too awkward though, Tobio spoke, “So...Why did you, uhh, want me here.”

“R-Right,” Shoyo fiddled with his fingers, “W-Well...Y-Y-You reme-em-ember wh-what you s-sai-said about you t-taking m-me in?”

Tobio gasped and nodded vigorously in response, clutching onto the hospital bed’s railing in anticipation, eyes shining. Damn, the only time Shoyo has really ever seen him like this is when they play volleyball. He must _really_ be serious about it.

‘ _Duh._ ’

**_‘Whatever.’_ **

_‘You only say that because I’m right.’_

He must’ve wasted too much time not talking because the next thing he knew, Tobio was snapping his fingers in his face, “Hello? Earth to dumbass? Hello?” 

That little shit (or big shit, again, whatever floats your boat).

Shoyo slowly shook his head to dispel his thoughts, “S-Sorry, I w-was th-thinking, a-anywa-wa-” 

“Okay, so, what do you want to say about-” Tobio started eagerly.

“W-Well maybe i-if you let m-m-me fin-finish wh-what I have to-to say the-”

“Sorry.”

The ginger could feel his left eye twitch madly in irritation. He sighed and leaned back in his bed, willing himself to not snap at the idiot beside him. After a moment of tense silence, he started to speak again.

“Anyways, I j-just w-wanted to t-t-tell you that I-I have an an-answer. BUT!-” He held his finger up before Tobio could even say anything, “I w-want your m-mo-mom wi-with y-you to t-tell you si-since she’s th-the adult i-in this situation. Th-That’s what m-my psychol-lo-logist to-told me to s-say, and I th-think that th-that’s a sm-smart idea.” He looked down at his lap, awaiting his friend’s reaction. But it never came.

Just silence.

And more silence…

And _more_ silence…

And **_mo_ **-

Okay, forget waiting.

He turned to face Tobio's direction and nearly burst out into laughter. The noirette was _gaping_ . Not your regular ‘ _Oh my god’_ gaping, but _gaping_. Like, jaw touching the floor gaping. He wasn’t even breathing either, he was just sitting there, hand clamped on the hospital bed railing, literally almost crushing it with, mouth agape. The sight was pretty comical, but since the subject of the situation wasn’t really something to laugh about, he held in his laugh.

“K-Kageya-”

“Okay!”

They fell into an awkward silence, not really knowing what to say anymore.

Tobio scooted the chair back and breathed in and out through his nose, to probably calm himself, Shoyo didn’t really know. The inky haired boy cleared his throat and started speaking, “Um, yeah. Okay. I can- I can bring her, yeah. I- wow, thanks for actually thinking about it.”

The middle blocker raised a brow, “W-What do you m-mean?”

“It’s just… I kind of expected you to sweep my ‘offer’ under the rug and kind of, like, I don’t know how to say this, uhhh-”

“I-Ignore it?”

“Yeah,” The setter wiped his sweaty hands on his thighs, “You know, because you wouldn’t want to think about getting a new family so soon after _it_.” He tugged on the collar of his shirt in discomfort and looked off to the side.

“You c-can say _it_ , y-you kn-know. Dr. S-Suzuki says th-that i-it’ll h-help me ‘co-come to t-terms’ wi-with their d-deaths faster.” Shoyo shot him a strained smile. He himself didn’t like to say it out loud since it hurt to mention it, but he knew it wasn’t good to _not_ acknowledge it, so he dealt with it.

“Right. So, I just... yeah…” Tobio grimaced apologetically.

“I-I see your p-point though. But you t-told m-me that w-wh-wherever my m-mother and s-s-sister are, they are h-happy I lived and th-that they’d w-want me to- to live my l-life as we-well as I can. I-If that means having to m-move on, then... then th-this is the fi-first step.” Shoyo said softly. His eyes were sad but held a determined spark. 

The setter nodded his head, flashing the ginger one of his genuine, not creepy smiles. They fell into silence for the billionth time that day, but this time it was peaceful. They basked in the tranquil vibe of the room until a nurse knocked on the door and informed Tobio that visiting hours were over. He grabbed his bag and waved goodbye, promising he’d be back soon with his mother. Shoyo waved back, watching as the other walked out of the room, hearing his footsteps fade away.

As per request, his nurse turned off the lights and shut the door after checking his vitals. The ginger looked out his window and looked up at the sky. The stars and the moon shone so bright, brighter than they had any other night. Call him crazy, but he took this as a sign that his mother and sister were cheering him on, happy for him. A smile graced his features, his dulled eyes shining not just with tears, but with hope.

Hope that maybe soon, things will be just a little more okay.

He wiped his eyes and laid down in his bed, making himself as comfortable as he could with how uncomfortable his bed was. That night, he fell asleep with his heart feeling a little less heavy than it had for the past month.

**_…_ **

It was the next afternoon and Shoyo was reading (or more like _trying_ to read, but kept getting distracted as he was nervous) a little picture book Kenma had gotten him to keep him busy. He couldn’t really focus on the words and pictures on the page because he couldn’t stop thinking about ‘ _the talk’_ (as he dubbed it) that would take place soon. Not even halfway into his book, a nurse came into his room and told him he had visitors. He thanked her and shakily set his book on the bedside table, sighing deeply to calm his nerves. A minute later, the door opened and two people, Tobio and Mama Kageyama, walked in and greeted him. He greeted them back and tried bowing to his friend’s mother, but was stopped midway through.

“There’s no need for that, Sho-kun.” She lightly scolded. She pulled a chair next to his bed and sat down, setting her purse into her lap, Tobio following suit. “I’m sorry, Miwa couldn’t come with us today.”

“N-No, i-i-i-it’s a-al-alright K-Kageyama-san.” Shoyo politely reassured her. He cursed inwardly at his nervousness which was making his stutter more prominent. “I-I don’t m-m-mind.”

Mamayama tilted her head at him and smiled, her long black hair framing her slightly aged features. She ruffled his hair and chuckled, “Don’t be so nervous, Sho-kun. Relax, we’re just here to talk.”

Shoyo nearly melted at the motherly contact, having been craving it for a while now. He was instantly relaxed, which elicited another chuckle from Mamayama. “Alright, well, since we _are_ here to talk, let’s talk, shall we?” 

Both her son and Shoyo nodded, marking the start of a possibly life changing conversation.

“So Sho-kun, Tobio told you about what we were thinking for a bit, what, about a month ago? I am correct, right?” To that, Shoyo nodded. Mamayama sighed, “Well, I’m sorry about him mentioning it so soon,” She tugged at her son’s ear, a slight scowl on her face, “We honestly should’ve given you more time to grieve for your family. You probably wouldn’t have wanted to think about adoption that soon when everything had just happened. On behalf of my idiotic son, I apologize.” She stood up, clutched her purse, and bowed, her son, again, following suit.

“N-No-No! I-It’s f-f-fine!” The ginger was now completely sat up in his bed, face red and hands held up in front of him. “H-He o-only ment-t-tioned it b-because I-I said I h-had no-wh-where to g-go!”

“Still… He should’ve waited until the subject was just a little less sensitive.” Her voice was thick with guilt. 

Shoyo sighed quietly through his nose, and smiled slightly. She really cared, huh? “I-It’s a-al-alright, K-Kageyama-san. I-I… I acc-accept your apology, n-now _please_ don’t w-worry about i-it an-anymore. Let’s pl-please just t-talk.”

Mamayama peered up at him from where her head was tilted down. Hearing his apology, her worries calmed a bit. “Thank you for being so considerate and accepting my apology.” She signaled for her son to sit down with her. With another bow of her head, she sat back down and set her purse back into her lap. Instead of letting a bit of time pass in silence or making some small talk, Mamayama jumped straight to the meat and cheese of the conversation, voice turning serious. “So, last night you revealed to my son that you had thought about our offer and have an answer. Is that correct?”

Shoyo shivered slightly at her tone, feeling as if he was being interrogated for a crime, but nodded all the same. Tobio noticed this and whispered something to his mom before she could start speaking again. She gasped and sent the ginger a look as to say sorry, to which he waved off in a polite manner.

“Alright well,” She spoke, softening her tone, “Since I’m here now, you can say what you please. What’ll it be kiddo?” Her eyes took on a hopeful glint as her voice lilted slightly.

“W-Well… I’ve… I…” He puffed his cheeks out in slight frustration. For some reason, it was hard to get the words out. He grasped the air in an attempt to act out the words, but it just looked like he was grabbing for something that wasn’t there. The Kageyama’s tilted their heads simultaneously and shot him confused looks, not understanding his dilemma. “I… uh… Wel- Okay… uh, I-I…”

Suddenly understanding what was happening, Tobio reached up to place a comforting hand on his friend's ankle and calmly spoke up, “Hinata, take your time.” Mamayama nodded feverishly after the realization hit her.

The middle blocker nodded and tried again, “I-I… I thi-think th-that…t-that...” He huffed a frustrated sigh, clenching his fists. Feeling reassured by the family’s calming presence beside him, he tried yet again, not wanting to give up, “I-I think th-that I wanna g-go... I w-wann-wanna g-go... w-with you.” He nodded with each word, trying really hard to get each word out.

The room went silent.

_Dead_ silent.

The beeps from each monitor in the room were deafening. You could probably hear a pin drop if you dropped it at the right time in between the beeps. 

Thinking the silence meant that they were regretting ever asking, Shoyo hung his head down low. He felt bad now that they would _have_ to take him in even though they probably regretted offering. Shame curdled in his gut and he could feel his face heating up as eyes welled up slightly, cheeks flushing a deep red.

**_‘Told you so, dumbass.’_ **

_‘Yeah… Guess you were ri-’_

Many things suddenly happened at once. He was engulfed in a tight bear hug accompanied with squealing while he also heard a chair scoot back, followed closely by a cheering noise. He flinched slightly, confused as to what was happening.

_‘I- What the hell?’_

The person hugging him- who he saw was actually Mamayama, pulled back and cupped his face in her hands, looking into his eyes with such motherly love, it was almost overwhelming. He could also see that her eyes were slightly shining with… tears. The ginger then looked over to his friend only to see him doing a little dorky celebratory dance further into the room.

It seemed that they were happy… 

So… Not regretting asking, huh?

Shoyo looked back into Mamayama’s eyes and smiled. He smiled wider than he ever had in awhile, eyes taking on the same shine they’d usually had before tragedy struck. They both wrapped each other in tight hugs, tears slightly leaking out of their eyes. A couple seconds later, Tobio joined the group hug, nearly completing the _family_ group hug.

After a while, a muffled voice was heard. It was Mamayama speaking. “Thank you for trusting us enough to say yes.” The tiny ginger could feel Tobio nodding from above. Shoyo hummed, not trusting himself to talk without literally sobbing, and smiled wider. He then burrowed further into her embrace, yearning for more motherly affection. This made Mamayama huff a wet laugh, hugging him tighter. 

‘ _Told you so, dumbass.’_

**_‘Shut up.’_ **

That night when they left, it seemed as if the stars shined brighter than ever. Maybe even brighter than the night before. Call him crazier, but he definitely took this as a sign from his family. They truly were happy for him. A fuzzy warmth spread throughout his body.

_Things really would be okay._

**_..._ **

That was the day that his life truly took a turn for the better.

**_..._ **

Shoyo still ended up being placed in foster care, but was going to stay with the Kageyamas. The actual adoption would have to come later due to how much paperwork would have to be done. No one minded though, as he would still be staying with them and not anyone else which was the idea. Lots of social workers visited him with paperwork, which made his nearly healed head spin a bit, but it was alright. Shoyo and Tobio had decided to keep the adoption on the down low from the rest of the team since the ginger was extremely hesitant to say anything about it. Tobio didn’t understand why, but he just went with it, trying to be a good friend brother and make the poor boy as comfortable as he can.

Conveniently, a week and a half later, he was given the okay to go home and was discharged from the hospital. After quite a lot of paperwork, Shoyo was anxiously sitting in the back seat of Mamayama’s car on the way to his house to collect his stuff, and to say goodbye one last time. A part of his soul shriveled up and died at the thought of needing to say goodbye, but he kind of had to. He was starting a new chapter in his life, moving on from the past, but it hurt. He was taught that it would always hurt and that it’ll hurt less over time back when Dr.Suzuki had been his psychologist (since he has been discharged, he has to go to another one more closeby), so he knew he’d feel better eventually.

He picked at the bandages on his legs, making a point not to look out the window. He was still traumatized from the accident, so being in a car wasn’t exactly the most ideal place to be in. The least he could do right now to avoid breaking out into a full fledged panic attack was to avoid looking outside, but even then, he could feel the tightness in his chest and the near violent shaking of his hands. Tobio, who was sitting next to him in the back seat, rubbed his back and murmured comforting words in his ear. Both Mamayama and Miwa, who were in the front, would also call out words of encouragement and comfort. Miwa even reached back and ruffled the boy's hair. Shoyo appreciated it all, but it rarely helped as it only slightly calmed him.

Before his skittish mood could escalate further, they had made it to their destination: Shoyo’s, soon to be, old house. 

“Sho-kun, we’re here.” Mamayama announced.

Feeling the car stop and hearing Mamayama’s announcement, the tiny middle blocker jerked his head up and looked out the window, staring at the building before him. Tears welled up in his eyes at the sight of it, emotions hitting him at full force. Noticing this, Tobio patted his back and whispered a tiny, “You can do it.” Grateful for the encouraging words, Shoyo shot him a thankful watery smile and opened the door, stepping on the familiar concrete of the driveway. 

The waft of the home-y scent it usually carried out when within an eight foot radius no longer hit his nose as strongly as it used to. Yes, it was still there, but it was almost gone. That really hit the ginger in the soul. With shaky legs, he walked to the front porch, and looked around, face heating up even more. He spotted the window sills, which were now a bit dusty.

_‘Mom would’ve never let it get this dusty…’_ he thought as he placed a finger on the mess, touch as light as a feather. He sniffed as his nose started to run, tears spilling over his bottom lid for the hundredth time this month. Hearing three car doors slamming, Shoyo looked behind him, seeing Mamayama walking forward while the other Kageyamas stayed behind, leaning on the car. 

Walking up the steps, Mamayama placed her hand on the ginger’s shoulder and held out a key. “The keys your mother carried were taken as the car was wrecked in the crash. As a result, the house keys were taken as well, but worry not, because I have them right here.” Shoyo looked down to her hand and back up at her. She smiled softly and grabbed his clean hand. She pushed the flat side of the key into his palm firmly and spoke, “Take it Shoyo. Walk in there and do what you need to do.”

Looking back down at his palm, he clenched his hand into a loose fist and nodded. Mamayama ruffled his hair and walked back down the porch steps to her car. He looked back up, confused as to why she wasn't coming with him. “E-E-Excuse me Kag-Kageyama-san, a-are you not com-coming in with m-me?”

She turned around, her soft smile still on her face, “Not unless you want me to. This is a moment for _you_ , Shoyo. Spend this time in peace without anyone else intruding, unless you want one or all of us coming with you. It’s your call.” The wind blew at this exact moment, almost as if it was the Earth’s calmer version of the thinking song from _Jeopardy!_.

When Shoyo really thought about it, he really just wanted to spend this moment alone and let his emotions run free in private. Without much debate, or any, really, he shook his head. “I-I… I wan-want to do th-this m-my… myself.” He spoke just loud enough for Mamayama to hear. At that moment, the wind calmed, his decision having been made. Gosh, it really was like _Jeopardy!_. 

She nodded in understanding, “Alright then. Take your time Shoyo.” The inky haired woman turned back around and kept walking towards her car.

Wiping his dirty hand on his shorts, he turned around to face the door. Inhaling shakily, he slowly picked up the key from his palm with his now ‘cleaned’ hand and put the key into the lock, then the deadbolt, efficiently unlocking the door. Lowering his shaky hand, he just stood there, eyes dripping with tears again, in front of the unlocked door. He decided on the count of three, he would walk in. Closing his eyes, he started mentally counting.

_‘One.’_

_‘Two.’_

_‘Thr-’_

“You can do it, Sho!” A female voice that was smooth like honey yelled out. It was Miwa.

The ginger turned around once again and saw Miwa giving him a thumbs up, dragging up Tobio’s hand and moving each finger to make him do the same thing. Her brother scowled and pulled his hand out of her grip, giving his orange haired brother a thumbs up without her ‘help’. Mamayama looked sheepish as she made a ‘lower the volume’ motion when she noticed a neighbor looking out their window to see what the noise was about. The sight honestly lifted Shoyo’s spirits just a little, that little extra push from Miwa giving the teen the slightest bit of courage he needed to push open the door and walk in, which is exactly what he did.

Shutting the door behind him with a slight wave, the orangette looked around the entrance way and into the barely lit hallway, the windows next to the door providing a bit of light. He flicked the light switch on, turning on the light of the hallway, revealing Natsu’s hung up drawings on the wall. Shoulders shaking with barely suppressed sobs, Shoyo toed off his shoes and slipped his pair of indoor slippers on. Walking out of the entrance way and into the hallway, he walked up to the pictures and ran his fingers over the papers on the wall, feeling it dip the slightest bit under his fingertips. The crayon on each paper blurred as his vision flooded with salty tears. They fell onto the floor, splattering quietly. His head was hung low and his teeth were clenched in a pitiful attempt to keep his sobs at bay. He shakily lifted his hands and removed each paper off the wall. One by one, he folded them as neatly as he could and held them close to his chest, hugging them as tightly he would his little sister if he could right now. 

The weeping teen slowly made his way over to the dining room table in the next room over and sat down. He shook off his slippers and brought his feet up. He curled up on the chair, holding each drawing tight as he sobbed and sobbed, eyes clamped shut, loud and heartbreaking cries clawing their way out of his throat. He grasped at the air, hoping desperately that Natsu would just some from thin air, just come back to him.

Just to hug her one last time.

He balled his hand into a tight fist and brought it back to his body, resting it against his forehead, willing himself to calm down as he still had other things to do. Sobs dying down to teary sniffles, Shoyo set the drawings on the dining table and wiped his eyes. He looked around the dining area and into the kitchen, which was right next to the dining room. It was lit well enough with the sunlight coming through the windows that Shoyo could see everything on the counters and racks. Even though his vision was slightly blurred, he could still see his and his mother’s apron on a hook in the kitchen. Without even bothering to put his slippers back on, he made his way over to the aprons, sock clad feet slightly dragging on the tatami mats which then turned to tile. The cool tiles clashed with the warmth in the soles of his feet which he would usually complain about, but at the moment, he paid it no mind. 

Shoyo held out both of his arms when the aprons were within arms reach and grabbed them tightly. He gently lifted them from the hook and set his on the counter next to him. He leaned against that same counter and like his sister’s drawings, he hugged his mother’s apron as if it were the last time he’d ever see it in his life, something he’s been wishing he had done to his mother before they got into the car before heading back to Miyagi. The red apron smelled of her perfume mixed with other kitchen spices. Usually, the scent of a strong floral perfume with kitchen spices would make him scrunch his nose in disgust, but now, it was more comforting than ever. As he burrowed his nose into the fabric, holding it firmly in his small hands, his tears dampened parts of the fabric, but he didn’t care. 

“M-Mom…” He hiccuped, “...M-Mom… I… I m-mi-miss y-you...” The poor boy’s knees buckled and he would’ve hit the floor harshly had he not been leaning against the counter. Staggering back onto his feet with the elegance of a newborn fawn, he grabbed both aprons and walked back into the dining room, folding them and setting them on the dining table. He stood back to look at the contents on the table, lips curling upward. Feeling bittersweet, he kissed his palm and pressed it on both the drawings and aprons, a way that he and his mother would give each other kisses ever since he was little.

Sniffing and sighing, the Shoyo walked out of the dining room and walked down the hallway on trembling legs, making his way to the stairwell. As he passed the living room area, he spotted some family photos on an accent table in the corner of the room. He quickly made a detour to the living room and removed his hoodie. Carefully picking up the framed photos, he wrapped the photos in his hoodie. He placed the wrap onto the accent table, not trusting his shaking arms to carry such fragile things. He made a mental note to look at each photo once he and the Kageyamas made it to their house, not wanting to spend more time crying his eyes out. He could already feel the slight throbbing of an oncoming migraine that would usually come soon after crying if he didn’t fall asleep after, which happened multiple times in the hospital. The pain made him wince, but it was at a bearable level so he ignored it.

Stumbling back outside and into the hallway, he walked up the stairs all while steadying himself on the railing. Sniffling from both the collected dust and his runny nose, Shoyo stood on the last step of the stairs, wondering what he should do next. Before he could ponder for too long though, he suddenly felt the urge to walk into his mother’s room. Walking over and standing in the doorway of her bedroom, he looked around until he spotted a small wooden box on her nightstand. On unsteady feet, he slowly waddled and knelt down in front of the nightstand. Instead of going straight for the box though, he felt compelled to look below the bed, which he did. Reaching out towards the dark, his finger touched a small, oddly shaped, metallic object. As he grabbed it and moved it around his hand, he realized it was a key. Retracting his hand and looking back at the box, he saw a little lock on the latch. He guessed the key was probably for that specific lock, so he inserted the key and, lo and behold, unlocked the lock.

He opened the box and saw a necklace in it. Not anything else, just a necklace.

Wait, not just a necklace, but... a locket?

Shoyo brought the box closer to his face to inspect the piece of jewelry. He flicked open the circle locket and saw a bunch of engravings on one side. On the other side, there was a picture of the three of them. Natsu was on his shoulders and was holding up peace signs, as was he. His mother was next to the both of them, shooting a wobbly smile at the camera as one of her hands was raised to rest on Natsu’s back. 

Shoyo’s face broke out in a pained smile as he remembered the time they took that picture. It had been the day before he had started his first year at Karasuno and Natsu second grade. His mom was worried and kept fussing over them since Shoyo hadn’t been holding onto his sister’s legs to keep her secure on his shoulders. Natsu didn’t really mind and had surprisingly managed to stay on his shoulders for at least seven minutes without needing to be secured, which they both thought was impressive. Their mom not so much. He had been scolded after the photo was taken which left him sulking until dinner. Tears blurred his vision once again as he missed them more than ever.

Looking over at the engravings of the, he ran his fingers over the letters and numbers. He realized that it was both his and Natsu’s birthdays along with a little message at the top. The writing above it read, _‘You are my whole world, my children. You are all that I live for each day. I will love you till the last drop of my blood drips away, and even then, I will love you unconditionally. Thank you for brightening my world.’_

Dropping both the box and the locket, he leaned over his kneeling legs and wept harder than he ever had in the month following the accident. He clenched tightly onto his hair as his head burrowed further into his folded legs. Each loud, muffled cry roughly clawed its way out of his throat, so loud that the Kageyamas could probably hear him from outside. He probably stayed in that position, crying for a good five minutes, give or take. Remembering he still has other things to do, he straightened up into a slouch, sobs still pouring out of his throat, and moved from kneeling to crouching flat on his feet. He whimpered pitifully and wiped his eyes with the collar of his shirt, exhaling an unsteady breath. He grabbed the locket and closed it shut, the shiny gold giving him a distorted reflection of his blotchy cheeks and red eyes. He laughed slightly at how stupid his circular reflection looked in that moment and felt a little better because of it. He delicately placed the locket back into the box and locked it back up. 

Every fiber of his body was screaming at him to take it with him, to not leave it behind. Not only that, but the strong urge to do something hit him again, and it was just that. To take the box with him. You could call him the craziest person you’d ever know, but in that moment, he truly believed that it was a sign that his mother was guiding him from wherever she was. Feeling miserable but strangely soothed, he took the box and the key with him as he stood up to exit the room. 

Before he fully exited the room, he turned back and looked around one last time, knowing it’d be his last time seeing his mother’s room. With a bittersweet smile, he blew a kiss to the air with his free hand and whispered an emotional, “T-Thank you mom…” Eyes shining, he faced forward once again, and shut the door of her room, dust flying about in his wake. The click of the door signified no going back, he decided. Running a hand through his orange fringe, he stumbled down the dimly lit hall. He saw Natsu’s door was slightly ajar and decided to go spend a bit of time there before heading to his to pack up.

Opening the door further, the first thing his eyes latched onto were her vibrant pink walls with white polka dots. She was always a fan of patterns, especially polka dots. As his eyes scanned the room, he saw her now dusty desk. It had papers scattered all over, most likely homework. He also saw her stuffies, as she dubbed them, all over her floor and bed. He sniffled, lips curling upwards into a strained smile as he remembered the day before the accident happened. Mom had been on her case all day about keeping her room clean. He remembered Natsu whining about not wanting to, saying she’d do it later that week. Mom had sighed exasperatedly, but ruffled her hair promptly afterwards just to assure Natsu that she wasn’t angry. He recalls the fondness he felt watching it all go down, and he feels the longing as he remembers it all.

Wiping his watery eyes, he crouched down and set the box and key he was holding on the floor, grabbing the stuffy that was closest to the door (conveniently, it was right next to the doorway). It was a small stuffed bear that Natsu had with her ever since she was born. He looked into its beady eyes and smiled. He brought it to his chest, carrying it with one arm while the other scooped up the box and key from the floor. Balancing everything on one arm, he blew a kiss into the room as his last goodbye and shut the door, the click of the latch signifying the fact that he can never go back. He walked away, eyes shining with unshed tears.

After a bit of stumbling, he finally made it to his room, it looking as Shoyo-esque as ever. He dropped the things he was holding on his bed and crouched down to get his gym bag from under it, all while holding his throbbing head. His oncoming migraine had progressed from a light pounding to full on pulsing, and that wasn’t even the worst it could get. He groaned as he lost his balance, lurching forward. Fortunately, the bed frame broke his fall so nothing really happened. Regaining his balance, he pulled his half packed gym bag from under his bed and dumped it on his sheets. On unsteady feet, he dragged himself towards his dresser, pulling drawers open and tossing out clothes he would take with him. He pulled out his knee pads and jersey and carefully brought those to his bag, not wanting to throw them, and promptly packed them in with the rest of the things that were already in there. He shoved the rest of his tossed out clothes into the bag, not caring to put them in gently. He left his unpacked clothes alone since he would donate them to charity.

Dragging himself to his desk, he grabbed his books and writing materials and packed them neatly into his backpack that was sitting in his desk chair. He then moved on to the posters on his wall, rolling them up and tossing them on his bed. The ginger sighed as he picked up his manga collection, noticing that he’d need to make more than one trip to carry it all to his bag. He just decided to put it all in his backpack with his school supplies because he was too physically drained to keep walking over to his gym bag. Remembering he had volleyballs underneath his desk (don’t ask, he just keeps them there out of pure laziness), he groaned and crouched down, scooping them up in his arms. Letting out a loud sigh and standing back up, he did a once over the room to see if he needed to pack anything else. Seeing that he didn’t, he shifted the balls in his arms to free one arm and pulled on his backpack- which was pretty heavy now, much to his dismay.

Shoving the volleyballs in the already bulging gym bag, Shoyo struggled and struggled to zip it up until it finally gave in and zipped all the way. He pulled on the bag on the side opposite from his backpack which weighed him down as well. 

‘ _Geez, I have too much stuff._ ’ The ginger thought bitterly. He picked up the box, key, bear and posters and walked to his door, turning around to wave goodbye to the room with one hand, not blowing a kiss this time. He walked out and shut the door behind him, the click of the latch giving him the second to last goodbye of the day.

There was just one left to go now.

Shoyo walked down the stairs and into the living room, retrieving the wrapped up pictures, and moved on to the dining room, retrieving the aprons and drawings. He sniffled as he walked down the hall and towards the entranceway of the soon to be uninhabited home, sad that he’d have to leave the home he grew up in behind in a couple minutes. But it was part of moving on, so he reluctantly accepted it. Making it to the entryway, he set down the things he was holding and pulled on his shoes. He then picked up his things _along_ with his other pairs of shoes in the entryway. He cringed as he stood back up, everything that was balanced in his one armed hold on them nearly toppling over as he almost keeled over from his migraine.

Then…

… He just stood there.

The ginger stood there, mentally preparing himself for the biggest goodbye of the day. The last goodbye of the day and possibly, the hardest one. The goodbye to the home he grew up in, to the memories made in this very place; all of it. With his shiny eyes leaking again, he turned around from facing the door to face the hallway. Lip quivering, he spoke, “B-Bye house…” He huffed a wet laugh as he noticed how crazy he must’ve looked talking to a _house_. Nevertheless, he continued, “... I-I’ll…I’ll m-miss y-y-you.” Fat tears poured down his cheeks; they dripped onto the floor, plattering silently. He waved feverishly in different directions around the house- up and down and side to side. He pressed his hand to his lips and blew the biggest kiss of the day, filling the house with his unconditional love. Deciding now would be a good time to leave, he stuck his hand in the pocket of his shorts, taking out the key. Murmuring one last goodbye, the boy opened the door and stepped out onto the porch, sunlight illuminating his skin at full force. He hissed as it made his eyes burn and his head pulse harder, lifting his hand to block his face. After taking a second to block out the pain, he shut the door and locked it. 

First the door lock then the deadbolt, the clicks of each signifying no going back-

\- _To move on_.

Shoyo shoved the key back in his pocket and took a deep breath to calm himself down. Covering his eyes with his free hand, he turned around and walked down the porch stairs and to Mamayama’s car. He could see that everyone was inside and that Tobio and Miwa were bickering while Mamayama had her eyes closed and pinched the bridge of her nose, looking completely over it. His face broke out into a fond grin, red rimmed eyes creasing into crescent shapes. 

_‘...my family…’_

He saw Miwa turn around in her seat and face the windshield, scowling, and then look at him, mouth making an _‘o’_ shape. She got out of the car so fast that he didn’t even have time to blink. “Hey Sho! Is that all the stuff you’re bringing with you?” The inky haired woman called out, racing towards him. Shoyo nodded in response to her question- which he shouldn’t have done because his head currently hurt like a bitch. As a result, he nearly tumbled right into her and almost dropped his stuff. “Woah, are you okay?” She placed a hand on his shoulder to steady him.

The orangette held up an okay symbol and pointed at his head. “Y-yeah, I-I’m fine. M-my head j-just h-hurts a l-l-lot. Mi-Migraine.”

“Migraine? Why?” Her brows furrowed in concern. Shoyo pointed at his eyes, not wanting to talk anymore since he was exhausted and literally almost dead on his feet. He hoped she’d be able to put two and two together. She looked at his eyes and her face went blank, likely thinking. She then made a noise of understanding and nodded, patting his shoulder.

The boy let go of the breath he didn’t know he was holding.

“Sucks dude. We’ll get you some medicine for it later, ‘kay? Also, here, let me hold some of that for you.” Miwa grabbed at his backpack and shoes. He shrugged his backpack off his shoulder to help her since she was having trouble getting it off, too tired to deny her help. She made a light _‘oof’_ sound as the full weight of it dropped into her arms.

“Hey, let me carry some of that too.” A male voice came from behind Miwa, surprising her. It was Tobio.

She shrieked which made the ginger flinch. She sent a look of apology his way and glared at her brother. “Warn me next time, dumbass.”

Tobio merely smirked evilly at her. He walked up to his friend and grabbed Shoyo’s gym bag and volleyballs, leaving the rest alone, knowing the ginger could handle it. Shoyo just let it happen, again too tired to deny the help.

When they made it back to the car, the poor ginger looked half dead (no disrespect to his family) because he was so worn out. He nearly knocked out without putting his seatbelt on, hugging the bear he took from Natsu’s room close to his chest.

“-un… kun… o-kun... Shoyo!” Mamayama was twisted in her seat and waving a hand in front of his face. Both Tobio and Miwa gave him uneasy stares, worried.

“Huh?” The ginger wiped the drool off his chin.

“Sorry I had to wake you kiddo, but you should put on your seatbelt. Also, is this all you’re taking? What about your bike?” 

There was a beat.

“... Oh…” It was obvious he forgot about both of those things, even to Tobio who, excluding Shoyo, was the dumbest in the car. He raised his hand towards the car door, obviously going to get his bike.

“Hey, wait!” Mamayama called out. Shoyo winced at the volume of her voice, his head being irritated further. Mamayama raised a hand to her mouth, looking guilty, “Sorry about that Sho-kun. Miwa told me about your head, I should’ve been more careful. We’ll get you some medicine for that, okay? Anyways, I can tell you forgot about your bike. Don’t worry about it, I can come back here and bring it with us tomorrow. For now let’s just go. You’re obviously tired. Please just put your seatbelt on and rest, okay? Tobio will wake you up when we make it home, okay?” 

The orangette grunted in response, dropping his hand down and sluggishly putting on his seatbelt. It wasn’t long before he fell into a restless slumber, clutching the stuffed bear close the entire time, the Kageyamas talking in hushed whispers around him.

**_…_ **

Going back to his normal life was pretty hard for him. In the first week that he was back in school, he had to learn everything he missed while he was in the hospital. It was frustrating for him since he had to cram in a ton of things for each class, which never worked since he was a slow learner. His friends would help him study when they had time in the morning and during lunch, which he is eternally grateful for. Thankfully, all of his teachers were understanding and would tutor him after school, but that also meant he’d have to miss volleyball practice. It ended up not mattering anyway, because he was exempt from volleyball practice for at least a month, which saddened him a bit, but he understood. It was hectic and it all kind of made his head spin. 

But nothing beat settling in with the Kageyamas, oh _no._

Life with the Kageyamas was... _wild_ , to say the least. 

Not even two weeks into living with them and Miwa had startled Shoyo so bad that he had a seizure in the kitchen at three a.m. It was the first seizure he ever had since being discharged and it was probably the second most traumatizing experience in his life. 

/ / /

**_Shoyo awoke with a violent jolt, sweat pouring out of every pore in his body, eyes blown wide, chest rising and falling rapidly. He was squeezing the life out of Natsu’s bear in terror, its poor beady eyes nearly bulging out of its head. The poor boy had just woken up from a nightmare about the accident and was losing it in his new room._ **

**_He tried to calm himself down using one of the methods his new therapist, Dr. Abe, had taught him. As his breathing calmed down to a tamer level, he noticed his throat was feeling dry. He reached for his water bottle that he usually kept on his nightstand, but realized that he forgot to bring one tonight._ **

**_Groaning, he got out of bed and stood up, knees popping. He tiptoed across the wooden floor of the former guest bedroom and quietly opened the door, not wanting to wake anyone by being too loud. He crept down the hallway, down the stairs, and into the kitchen, trying to open the creaky cabinet to the cups as silently as possible. The ginger cringed as a loud noise resonated throughout the room, the opposite of what he wanted to happen, happening. He quickly shut the cabinet after snatching a glass cup from it._ **

**_As Shoyo walked towards the tap to pour some water into his glass, an ear piercing screech came from behind him, scaring him so bad that he dropped the glass onto the floor and it shattered. His mind suddenly went blank and he collapsed onto the floor, narrowly avoiding the shattered glass around him. The ginger whined as the lights turned on around him, shining directly into his eyes. His body immediately went rigid and he blacked out as he started convulsing._ **

**_“O-Oh shi- fu- Oh god! Sho! Jesus fucki- MOM!” Miwa ran towards Shoyo, glass crunching under her slippers. “MOM! MOM, TOBIO! MO-!”_ **

**_“Gosh Mimi, what are you screaming about?” Mamayama turned the corner to the kitchen, rubbing her eyes roughly, sounding angry. “It’s literal..ly…” Her voice trailed off and all the color drained from her face, eyes widening in horror. “WHAT HAPPENED?” She started to rush forward to kneel next to her son but halted as Miwa shot a hand out in her direction._ **

**_“N-No don’t. You don’t have shoes on and there’s glass. You’ll cut yourself. Uhm, I- I screamed because I walked in here while he was probably getting water a-and… and I think I scared him so bad he got a seizure. I didn’t mean to scream, i-it’s just I thought he was an intruder. M-Mom, what do we do?” Her voice shook as she spoke, shaken up by everything that was happening. All she could do was stare as her little brother writhed on the floor, letting out little groans every two seconds. She felt helpless._ **

**_Mamayama ran a hand through her hair, racking her brain to remember what Shoyo’s doctor told her to do when he had a seizure. Finally remembering what to do, she snapped her fingers and sped off to her room to get her phone, but not before telling her daughter to watch Shoyo closely. As she rounded the corner and sped into the hallway, Tobio- looking extremely worried - stepped out of his room and stopped her suddenly._ **

**_“Mom, what’s going on?” His usually stoic features were twisted with concern. “I heard screaming from the kitchen. Was that you?”_ **

**_“Ack, look,” Mamayama started, “Shoyo got startled by Miwa while getting some water. Miwa thinks that she scared him so bad that he got a seizure. I’m not sure if that’s even possible, but for all I know, that could be the case. I’m going to go get my phone to time the seizure since that’s what his doctor told me to do.” She noticed Tobio was about to start heading towards the kitchen but she grabbed his arm to stop him. “There’s shattered glass on the floor. If you’re going to go into the kitchen, put slippers on. Please. I don’t want you getting hurt.” With that, she patted his back and resumed her mini marathon._ **

**_Shoyo’s seizure ended up lasting about three minutes, two minutes and fourteen seconds, to be exact. Everybody in the house (save for Shoyo) breathed a sigh of relief when the ginger stopped convulsing and came to his senses. Tobio helped him to his room while Miwa cleaned up the glass off the floor, passing him a water bottle before he was taken to his room. Mamayama answered the front door when someone knocked on it, which revealed a neighbor who had a phone in their hand. They were wondering if everything was okay since they woke up to screaming coming from their home a little while ago. Mamayama assured them that everything was okay and the rest of the night passed by without incident._ **

/ / /

Moving the timeline forward to a month and a half into living with the Kageyamas, Shoyo had another ‘wild’ experience. He dubbed it _‘The Slipper Incident’._

No offense to the Kageyamas, but it truly showed how being an idiot ran in the family. He couldn’t really be talking because he was, and still is, a huge idiot too. Not only was the _‘The Slipper Incident’_ almost as terrifying as the seizure incident (in Shoyo’s opinion), but it’s also extremely stupid. So stupid in fact, that it’s quite embarrasing to think about.

/ / /

**_“W-What do-does ‘_ ** **_a-a-absolute_ ** **_’ mean?” Shoyo inquired one afternoon, sitting on the floor in front of the coffee table in the living room. He and Tobio were doing English homework while eating some snacks since they were bored and had nothing else to do (not that they wouldn’t do it if they did have something to do, haha…)._ **

**_“Um, I think it mea-” Tobio was suddenly cut off by loud cursing. Both of the volleyball dorks’ heads whipped in the direction of the door, which was where the cursing was coming from._ **

**_“God damnit, Tobio! Why did you eat my wafers!?” Miwa appeared in the doorway, holding one of her slippers in her hand, fuming. If you looked hard enough, you’d probably be able to see her pupils flash red._ **

**_The setter in question scoffed, clearly offended at the accusation. “I did not! It was probably you and you just don’t remember! Why do you always blame me for this type of stuff?”_ **

**_“Because! Now, answer the question! Why. Did. You. Eat. My. Wafers!” She threw the slipper she was holding at him, but it missed, hitting the poor ginger crow next to him instead. He squawked as it hit him in the face, the nose echoing throughout the room. They didn’t even notice though, too caught up in their quarrel to notice._ **

**_“Dude! You are probably the dumbest person in the world! I. Did. Not. Eat. Your. Gross. Wafers!” Tobio refuted._ **

**_“Yes you did!”_ **

**_“Did not!”_ **

**_“Did too!”_ **

**_“Did not!”_ **

**_“DID TOO!”_ **

**_“DID NO-”_ **

**_“STOP LYING!” She took off her other slipper and threw it at him. It would’ve hit him if he didn’t move out of the way._ **

**_Unfortunately, since he moved out of the way, it hit Shoyo right in his throat. The poor kid was sipping his orange juice when it collided with his throat, making him choke as it went down. He started coughing which sent orange juice splattering all over his English homework._ **

**_Well, so much for turning that in._ **

**_He grabbed his neck as he choked and choked on the liquid, dropping the almost empty juice box on the floor. Both of the Kageyama siblings whipped their heads around to look at him, eyes filling with terror._ **

**_Tobio grabbed him and started shouting, “What’s wrong? Shoyo, what’s wrong? Are you okay? What’s happening? Are you having a seizure?” The orangette shook his head feverishly, spluttering all the while, and pointed at his throat. Being the idiot he was, the black haired boy didn’t understand. “You can have seizures in your throat? Miwa, get mom!”_ **

**_“No you dumbass! You go get mom! He’s obviously choking! You can’t even get seizures in your throat, like, my god, you are unbelievable! I’ll give him the heimlich while you go get mom.” She raced forward towards Shoyo._ **

**_“O-Oh, well- well no! I can stay and give him the heimlich while_ ** **you** **_go get mom!” He scowled at her._ **

**_“Oh my god, Tobio! You don’t even know how to-!”_ **

**_“I’ll learn to-”_ **

**_“In five seconds? I don’t think so!”_ **

**_“Watch me!”_ **

**_“Tobi, he’s literally gonna die if you wait any longer!” Miwa pointed at Shoyo, whose face was nearing a light shade of blue at this point. “Look! He’s literally blue… OH MY GOD, HE’S LITERALLY BLUE!”_ **

**_“HOLY SHIT!” Tobio started slapping his brother’s back harshly, drops of orange juice being coughed out onto the boy’s already permeated English homework. “MIWA HE’S GONNA DIE!”_ **

**_Actually thinking he was gonna die, Shoyo started crying, which only freaked the others out further._ **

**_“AHHH, HE’S CRYIN-”_ **

**_“What’s going on he- Shoyo!” Mamayama ran into the room._ **

**_From there, everything got better, more or less. After he stopped choking (and crying), Shoyo explained to the Kageyamas why he was choking which resulted in Miwa getting the nastiest glares from Mamayama in all of glare history. She was mortified and apologized profusely for at least an hour. For the rest of the day, Shoyo’s throat felt weird and achy, all because of those stupid wafers. He also ended up not turning in his English homework that week, which lowered his already poor grade._ **

**_Freaking wafers._ **

/ / /

Despite going through those, and many more, ‘wild’ moments, Shoyo really enjoyed living with the Kageyamas. There were tons of sweet moments that the four of them all shared, which are memories he will treasure for eternity. Moments like those were not rare, believe it or not. They were all _very_ caring people. They gave him a _home_ to live in when he couldn’t go back to his. They became his family when his had unfortunately passed. They provided him with comfort when he woke up screaming and crying each night about his family. They would make him laugh when he felt absolutely horrible and didn’t want to keep going anymore. 

All the encouragement, all the praise, all the comfort, and the love, all the wild moments, everything. 

It makes them a _family_.

And to be frank, Shoyo wouldn’t trade that for the world.

**_…_ **

It’s been over five months since Shoyo has been adopted by the Kageyamas and the others _still_ don’t know about it. Both him and Tobio had debated telling them multiple times before, but ended up not doing it out of fear, from the middle blocker’s end. It may sound a little pathetic, but the ginger crow was scared of being judged because he was adopted by the Kageyamas. He was scared of being told that they took him in out of pity. It’s not that he thinks that they’re the type to say something like that- with the slight exception of Kei (Yes, he thinks the guy is enough of an ass to say something like that. _Sue him_.), but if you annoy people badly enough, they can turn on you, and he is a pretty loud kid…

… Still, even if they weren’t going to say anything about pity, Shoyo still wasn’t comfortable with telling them, so Tobio respected his wishes and kept his mouth shut. His teammates never asked though, probably to not invade his privacy, which made the ginger breathe a little easier.

But it wasn’t like they never found out.

It was the day of Karasuno’s match against Tsubakihara at nationals that the crows learned something about the freak duo that blew their minds.

It all started when their match ended, Karasuno winning by two sets. They went out into the hall after lining up and thanking the other team, all pumped by their win. The third years were talking with their former upperclassmen, the second years were mingling around the hall, and the first years were walking towards the merchandise stands nearby until they heard it. Everyone from Karasuno, save Tobio, froze at what they heard, looking directly at the source.

_Shoyo._

“H-Hi mom! I c-can’t be-be-believe you c-came!” The orange haired middle blocker jumped up and down in excitement. “D-Did you see m-me and Tobi? Did you? We w-went like _woosh_ and _f-fwoooo_ ! And my t-team-m-mates went l-like _wham_! It was so c-cool! We w-won, mom! We w-won!” He was jumping as high as he would on the court at this point.

Everyone from Karasuno looked at one another with wide eyes, with the exception of Tobio who just gave the ginger a small scowl.

**_‘Mom?’_ **

Not seeing who the ginger was talking to, Koushi excused himself from his conversation and rushed forward to calm him down, a worried expression on his face. He assumed the boy was probably talking to himself and acting as if he was speaking to his deceased mother, which broke his heart a little. People were starting to stare at the jumping crow, which made him walk a bit faster. He was stopped dead in his tracks when he heard a female voice speak,

“Sho-kun, please calm down. Yes, I saw what you and Tobio did. I’m _very_ proud of both of you and your team.” Her voice was sweet and chirpy, like a bird.

That was when Karasuno realized that Shoyo was literally adopted by some family a couple months back. **_‘Ohh, right. He does have a mom, just not...’_ ** They all cringed simultaneously. Yeah, no, let’s just… _not_ finish that thought. They all went back to their conversations, exhaling breaths of varying types of relief. Koushi started walking back, cursing at himself for being so forgetful and insensitive until…

“Your receives were shit.” Tobio stated bluntly, face as stoic as usual.

The woman started speaking, “Tobi-” 

“H-Hey! Shut it, m-milk boy! I s-s-still tr-tried!” The ginger was stuck his tongue out at his setter, flipping him the bird on the side for that extra oomph. 

Both the gesture and the name seemed to aggravate the ‘Milk Boy,’ so he started pinching the orangette’s cheeks (having stopped grabbing his head months ago). “Yeah, well you still sucked ass, shorty.”

This elicited gasps from both ‘Mom’ and Shoyo. The ginger started to growl and bat at his brother’s pesky pinching fingers. “Y-You t-t-take tha-that back! Y-You’re not a-any b-be-better a-at th-them than I-I am!”

“Hah! Lies! I’m better at both volleyball _and_ receives! Beat that, dumbass!”

“I- what? Wh-When di-”

“I said what I said!”

“Y-You little s-shit-!”

“Last time I checked, I was taller than yo-”

“Boys-”

“ _E-Excuse_ me!?”

“Boys, please. Cal-”

“You heard me, little dwarf!”

“Boys, _please_ calm do-”

“I’m su-surprised y-you e-e-even know wh-what that means, dumb-dumbass!”

“Oh, so now you’re using my word against me?”

“ _Y-Y-Your w-word?_ You c-can’t o-o-own a w-wor-”

“ _Boys!_ ”

They both turned to her, eyes wide and jaws snapped shut. “Yes?” They meeped simultaneously.

“There is no need to insult each other. Especially _you_ , Tobio. There was no need to be so rude like that, it was out of line. Now, I want you to apologize to Shoyo because you started it _and_ insulted him. And Shoyo, I want you to apologize for insulting him back-” The lady was cut off by said ginger, who huffed in disbelief.

“Wh-What d-do you _m-m-mean_ ? H-He star-started it- _meep_!” A quick glare from her shut him up quickly.

“You should’ve been the bigger person in the situation and ignored him.” She then glared at Tobio, who snickered when she said ‘ _bigger person_ ’. Brat. “Now, apologize.”

“Yes mom.” The boys said, loud enough for everyone on their team to hear.

**_‘Mom… Mom… Mom… Hold up they both said mo-’_ **

Koushi whipped his head around towards them, eyes wide in shock.

Daichi froze as his gaze snapped to them, not believing what he heard.

Asahi dropped his water bottle and gaped in disbelief, a stream of water falling out of his mouth and onto the floor.

Yuu gasped in shock and whirled his entire body around to face them.

Ryu flinched and trailed off his sentence, losing train of thought, and jerkily moving his head to face them.

Chikara, Hisashi, and Kazuhito’s jaws dropped, eyes moving at the speed of sound to look directly at them.

Kei froze, eyes widening marginally.

Tadashi nearly shat himself, he was so surprised, as he dropped everything he was holding from the stands.

As if on cue, the crowd around the lady that covered her parted like a sea, fully revealing her identity. The crows who weren’t looking at the trio nearly snapped their necks as they turned to see her. Their minds went blank at what they saw.

The lady the freak duo were talking to looked _exactly_ like Tobio. Like, a carbon copy, but just a female and older. Like, in her late thirties to mid-forties type of older. Young but not too young. And these guys literally just called her mom. The _both_ of them. 

Karasuno couldn’t believe it. 

**_‘Could they be brothers?_ **

**_Long lost brothers who-_ **

**_Wait._ **

**_What?_ **

**_Shoyo was adopted five months ago…_ **

**_Yeah, and?_ **

**_...He never said who, but… but now it was pretty obvious who. This lady… is a Kageyama. She has to be! It only makes sense._ **

**_But how-_ **

**_Shoyo doesn’t even have a mom! Kageyama is the one between the both of them who does! Since they call the same lady mom, they… they adopted him…_ **

**_Wow! What a shallow way to put it, Nishinoya. You should be ashamed of yourself! Word things differently next time._ **

**_Sorry Suga…_ **

**_…_ **

**_..._ **

**_… Wait, so Hinata got adopted by the Kageyam-_ **

**_Oh my god- ’_ **

Karasuno was speechless. They didn’t know what to say. There are literally no words to describe what they were thinking right now.

_Actually_ … there _is_ one word…

“ _...HUH!?_ ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In the middle of writing this, I realized that I was treating this as if I were writing an essay for school (if that makes sense); trying too hard to write it well and being to strict with myself while writing (I don't even know if I said that right :'D). What I mean by that is that I was writing this without having fun, and it shows. I don't know if this is just me being too critical with my writing or smth, but I see a huge difference between the beginning of the chapter and the end of the chapter. In the beginning, it's like stuck. Idk how to explain it, it's just... /stuck/. Maybe that's not the right word to use but that's the only word that comes to mind when I think of the beginning. Towards the end, it just seems freer. Again, I don't know if this is the right word to use but it's the only word that comes to mind.
> 
> I don't really know if that me just being dumb and imagining things, but it's what I feel like I can see. Oh well!
> 
> Anyways AHAHAHAHHAHAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!! THIS IS MY FIRST CHAPTERRRRRR TO MY FIRST MULTI FICCCCC! I'm so excited :D 
> 
> If you can and/or want to, please leave feedback! It is greatly appreciated!
> 
> ...
> 
> [ Black Lives Matter carrd](https://blacklivesmatters.carrd.co/) This is a carrd with petitions, numbers, donation links, etc that can really help the Black Lives Matter movement. I strongly support this movement and I would really appreciate it if you, the person reading this, could take the time out of your day to at least sign petitions, donate, or spread this around. If you can't donate, that's totally okay too. Signing petitions and spreading awareness is just a good as well. Anything helps. Thank you.
> 
> ...
> 
> Take care and have a nice day / afternoon / night <3

**Author's Note:**

> (June 28, 2020) Hi! Here to say that updates will be super slow! This is something that I'm doing for fun and when I'm not busy (also to boost my writing skills as previously mentioned :D). If you requested something a little while ago and still have not received your request, I'm really sorry :(. I'll try to write as much as I can as quickly as I can, but that probably still wont help requests go out faster. 
> 
> I reaaaaallly don't want to stress over this and start to hate it because writing can be enjoyable when you're happy and carefree about it, but knowing me, I'd probably ruin this for myself. But I don't rlly know that! Only time will tell!!
> 
> Thank you to everyone who requested btw!


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